Gopher chaser apparatus



June 30, 1970 KUHL ET AL GOPHER CHASER APPARATUS Filed March 5, 1969 FIG.I

INVENTOR. PH'LIP J. KUHL I Y .K BY V B UHL FIG.3

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,517,635 GOPHER Cl-IASER APPARATUS Philip J. Kuhl and Ivy B. Kuhl, both of 925 Highway 80, Alpine, Calif. 92001 Filed Mar. 5, 1969, Ser. No. 804,518 Int. Cl. G08b 9/00 US. Cl. 116-22 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A gopher chaser apparatus having pivoting members that are supported on a rod that is inserted into the ground, which pivoting members are respectively pivotally moved by a wind driven, rotating cam member to successively impact metal ends against the rod, creating noise vibrations that chase gophers from the adjacent area of the ground.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The problem of gophers eroding and burrowing into the earth is particularly troublesome in many areas. While different approaches have been used in attempts to eliminate gophers, such as trapping, gasing and the like, these approaches require considerable and constant effort to be effective. These approaches are thus not only time consuming but are expensive and where there are a considerable number of gophers in a given area, the gophers often repopulate as fast as they are trapped or gased. Thus the problem of the continuing presence of gophers exists and it present a situation that has been and is difiicult to solve. Thus it is advantageous to have a device that continuously operates, with a separate power source, to create a condition in which the gohper does not want to reside in a given area of the earth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an exemplary embodiment of this invention, a metal rod is driven into the earth in an area in which gophers populate, and a housing is supported on the upper end of the rod. At least one member is pivotally supported in the housing and has ametal insert in its lower portion that impacts against the upper end of the metal rod when the pivoting member is moved. A propeller or fan blade unit is supported on an axle on the housing and is rotated by the wind. The rotated axle in turn rotates a cam member that continuously moves the lower end of the pivoting member to and from contact with the metal post. This creates successive noise and sound vibrations to the area and into the soil. This has been found to drive gophers from the area of the earth. The structure of this invention is simple and inexpensive in construction and operates without an outside power source and yet provides continuous noise vibrations for causing gophers to leave given areas such as groves, gardens and the like.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved gopher chaser apparatus.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved gopher chaser apparatus that is wind driven and provides successive noise vibrations into the air and the surrounding ground area.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved gopher chaser apparatus that creates sound waves in the earth, and which has a rugged, simple and inexpensive construction.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description and an examination of the drawing wherein like reference numerals designate like parts throughout and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 33 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a metal pipe or post 22 is driven into the earth 26, preferably where gophers reside or where it is not desired that gophers reside. A housing 10 that may be made of wood, metal, or other suitable materials, is supported on the upper end of the metal rod 22 by a sleeve member 32. A shaft 34 passes through sides 21 of the housing 10 and through an opening in sleeve 32. The upper end 84 of metal post 22 has a rod 82 supported therein by a screw 86. Rod 82 passes into the sleeve 32 and sleeve 32 rests on the upper edge surface of the post. Thus it may be observed that while the housing 10 is supported rigidly and securely and in a sound transmitting postion on post 22, the housing 10 may be quickly and easily removed by merely lifting the housing and sleeve 32 off of the supporting pin 44 and 82.

Positioned in the housing 10 is a shaft 40 in holes 66 and 68. Pivotally supported on shaft 40 are a pair of pivoting members 36 and 38. These members are spaced apart by spacing washer 62 that also prevents abrasive contact between members 36 and 38 that would impede their free rotational movement on shaft 40. The pivoting members 36 and 38 have openings therein 64 that allow the pivoting members to freely and substantially frictionlessly rotate on the shaft 40. The pivoting members have enlarged lower end portions 42 and 46 in which metal inserts 44 and 48 are positioned. It may be observed that for example, pivoting member 36 has a side projection 42 that allows for offsetting of the pivoting member 36 relative to pivoting member 38 and still align the metal insert 44 for impacting contact against the metal sleeve 32.

Each of the pivoting members 36 and 38 have a recessed surface that rests against a cam member 52 that rotates on a shaft 54. The outer end of shaft 54 projects through the side 21 of the housing 10 and has a threaded end 76 on which is mounted a propeller housing 20 that supports propeller or fan blades 18. A nut 24 secures the propeller housing 20 onto the threaded end 76. Washer 74 provides a bearing surface between the side 21 of the housing and the hub 20. Head 70 of the bolt 54 also has a bearing washer 72. Thus rotational movement of the blades 18 rotates shaft 54 and concurrent rotation of the cam member 52 that in the manner illustrated in movement in the direction of arrow 56, forces the pivoting members 36 and 38 to alternately move in and out in pendulum movement to impact metal members 44 and 48 against the upper end of the rod 22. The ends of the rod members 44 and 48 project 50 beyond the end of the pivoting members 36 and 38, that can be made of wood or other suitable materials. A wind orienting vane 14 is secured by side members 16 to the upper plate member 17 of the housing 10 and functions in the known manner to direct the blades 18 into the wind.

In operation, the rod 22 is driven into the ground. The housing 10 is then set on the top of rod 22 and the wind rotates blades 18 and cam 52 causing the pivoting members 36 and 38 to continuously impact against the rod member 22 creating a metal to metal noise vibration creating sound waves in the air and sound vibrations in the ground that cause gophers to leave the area.

Having described our invention, We now claim:

1. A gopher chaser apparatus comprising,

a metal post having an upper end, and a lower end for being projected into the earth,

a housing having an internal volume,

means for supporting said housing on the upper end of said post with said upper end of said post projecting into the volume of said housing,

a shaft and an axle positioned in said housing and spaced vertically in alignment and substantially normal to said metal post,

a pivoting member with a lower portion,

said shaft having said pivoting member pivotally suspended therefrom with the lower portion of said pivoting member positioned to contact said upper end of said post,

said axle having one end extending out of said housing,

a wind driven propeller fixed to said axle for rotating said axle,

and a cam secured to said axle at a point adjacent to said pivoting member for contacting and moving said lower portion of said pivoting member into impacting contact with said upper end of said post, creating noise vibrations that effect gophers in the adjacent ground.

2. A gopher chaser apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which,

the end of said pivoting member has at least a metal contact portion for impacting against said metal post.

3. A gopher chaser apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which,

said housing has a wind directing vane positioned thereon for directing said propeller into the prevailing wind.

4. A gopher chaser apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which,

an additional pivoting member pivotally supported on said shaft and having a lower portion,

the lower portion of each of said pivoting members has at least metal contact portions for impacting against said post,

and said cam having sutficient width to contact each of said pivoting members that are positioned adjacent each other for alternate impacting against said metal post.

5. A gopher chaser apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which,

said pivoting members have an elongated length with adjacent recessed sides for permitting positioning of the cam therebetween.

6. A gopher chaser apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including,

a cylindrical sleeve positioned in said housing and having a pin passing therethrough connecting said sleeve to said housing,

said upper end of said metal post having a shoulder spaced from the end of said post,

said sleeve fitting over said upper end of said metal post and abutting said shoulder on said post.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 333,611 1/1886 Daveggio 11622 367,955 8/1887 Braun 84'404 716,471 12/1902 Pickop et al. ll6l56 966,950 8/1910 Puha 11622 1,057,012 3/1913 Shalet 116156 1,257,919 1/1918 Priester 116-157 XR 1,953,677 4/1934 Glover 1l622 3,039,425 6/1962 Warn 116-60 3,048,142 8/1962 Warn ll6-60 3,073,284 1/1963 Roberts 116l37 3,093,761 6/1963 Case 31028 LOUIS I CAPOZI, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 84-404; 340-17 

